Thursday, February 19, 2015

Annals of Modern Medicine

Fron 1971, please enjoy, if possible, Humble Pie's (I have always suspected unintentionally) over the top hilarious live cover of Ray Charles' "I Don't Need No Doctor."




In any case, unlike those guys, I actually DO need a doctor; in fact, all I seem to do of late is get prodded and poked (don't worry, nothing life threatening looms that I'm aware of).

But given the time constraints I make no promises about getting tomorrow's Weekend Listomania's Greatest Hits up.

I thank you.

5 comments:

buzzbabyjesus said...

I haven't heard this since I was 14? I played that album many times. A lot better than my memory suggested.
I don't need no doctor neither.

Anonymous said...

Not ashamed to say I liked Humble Pie. They were pretty ferocious. And because of Frampton, could be kinda lyrical at the same time. I dug the first three A&M albums. It certainly wasn't the same after Frampton left. I danced to this and a couple of other tracks on this album at the Wildcat, "Four Day Creep" comes to mind. Great for bumpin' and grindin'.

Saw them on this tour when they opened for Ten Years After in Long Beach, but best of all on their first and only night at the Whisky (cuz of the fire). A guy friend and me actually smoked a joint with Peter and Steve outside, standing on the sidewalk on Clark Street. The guy I was with was a photographer who shot me a bunch. He took pictures that night too. I have some great 11 x 14 B&W shots. A bit later that year they opened for ELP at the Bowl with Edgar Winter. I think that was the last time in California with Peter.

They finally played Berdoo in 1972, but Peter was gone. Nevertheless, they hadn't gone completely downhill yet. It was a lively show. Slade opened. Have some wretched Instamatic pix of that one. Was up as close as can be. I loved the Swing's low stage. No backs of heads in the photos just shit quality and completely washed out color due to time.

I had an 8-Track tape recorder back then. I used to sell custom tapes for between 15 and 20 bucks, or trade for drugs. Most of them were of mixed artists. However, because the factory tape of Rockin' the Fillmore split three of the longer songs in half, I did big business by using 90 minute blank tapes (which would actually run around 95 minutes) to keep all the tunes intact with bonus filler. Gilded Splinters barely fit. I went to a tape duplicating place and had 100 made. I sold them all. I wonder if any of those survived? They were in red cases and had a color photo of me in a bikini as background wallpaper for the titles. Maybe somethin' will turn up on ebay.

Good luck at the doctors Steve. Hope all goes well.

Vickie Rock

P.S. OT: There is another Rick Rosas Tribute concert being held this Sunday in Whittier. Don't know if Waddy will be there. This one seems like more of a Chicano affair. I'm gonna call the venue tomorrow get more details.






Jonathan F. King said...

I'm fairly confident I saw them do this at a free live concert in Hyde Park that summer. Their set displayed pretty execrable posturing on most relevant levels, as I recall ... but they far outshone (outshon?) the acts on either side of them: Heads, Hands & Feet to open, and Grand Funk Railroad closing. In fairness, HH&F were brand-new, and made little impression on me, at least; no offense meant to any Headsers, or Handsers, or etc. who may see this. Humble Pie roused their share of excitement, as I say, doing this kind of stuff. And then, in an instant, fully one third of a crowd of 250,000+ people got up and left, as if aware that something far nastier awaited those who stayed. And it did.

Anonymous said...

Saw HH&F at the Troubadour just prior to Humble Pie Whisky gigs. The FM had advance copies of the debut and was playing the hell out of about five songs from such. I thought they kicked ass, even if they seemed all over the place stylistically. However, saw them again with the Guess Who later and they were a letdown.

RE: GFR - I don't think they ever had much of a following in England. While never a huge fan, I do think Brewer is a monster drummer, love Schacher's thick bass sound and, once in a while, Farner wrote a decent tune. I always liked their cover of Inside Looking Out. They could be a very raw band. Their success in America certainly wasn't due to critical raves and they got virtually no airplay on California FM at the time. Sure, Terry Knight hyped them. But that's not why the kids bought it. They had a certain and undeniable visceral appeal.

I saw them open for Joe Cocker in late 1969 and I enjoyed their lively set. They were a tight band whether or not you liked the tunes. Saw them headline over Sabbath in 1971 as well and dug that too. They mixed Motown and soul into their bluesy hard rock which made them kind of unique. And they kept it simple. I think it's cool that bands such as Gov't Mule are now covering some of GFR's songs. So, yeah, I'm not shitting on them.

Vickie Rock





John Werner said...

I, too, first heard humble pie before I was old enough to drive. It made me want to drive around with a stereo blasting their music which I eventually did. That what makes this performance good it involves the listener and that still comes through this many years later. To me that's the real humor, that it's actually better than most of what bands (or artists) are putting out now.

And, speaking of Grand Funk. They rocked, raw and straight-forward. I still listen to On Time and it actually sounds better than some stuff recorded with the best of today's technology. If you understood what rock was about you didn't have to have the most skill. Heart and soul trumps intent and Humble Pie (especially Steve) and GFR had it in their prime to the max.